Design: Good vs. Bad

One of the six senses that Daniel Pink describes in A Whole New Mind is that of Design. He says "It's no longer sufficient to create a product, a service, an experience, or a lifestyle that's merely functional. Today it's economically crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging" (65). In my everyday life, I have noticed quite a few things that are either very poorly or very well designed. The things that are average or normal in their design tend to fade into the background, but things that seem to be either very well designed or very poorly designed seem to stick out the most.

One of the first things I think of when I think of poorly designed things is my bedroom. I know that a bedroom might seem weird to include in a discussion about designed products, but it is what sticks out to me most, and I believe it fits into a lot of what Pink talks about, as he discusses the importance of design in public housing. I live the house belonging to the Wesley Foundation, a Christian organization, across the street from campus. The house is very old and when it was remodeled for students to live in, it was designed to have the most amount of rooms possible. Because of this, my room ended up being very small. It seems as though a very unexperienced architect designed our building, because my room is designed very poorly and makes very little sense. As might not be apparent in this picture, the far wall of my room must contain an emergency exit, which was required in every room for the amount of people living in the house. This door cannot be blocked because, again by poor designing the door opens in toward my room and must have room to open. For this reason, my bed must go on the opposite wall. However, the architect that designed the room did not make this wall long enough to fit a regular twin-sized bed. At the foot of the bed is my closet, which was also poorly designed in an awkward triangle shape that cannot fit many clothes at all. Because my closet is here, my bed won't fit flat against the wall and must be pulled about a foot away. This makes a quite noticeable gap between my bed and the wall. So many things about the way my bedroom was designed do not make sense, and I can't help but think that if a better designer had designed this house, everything would work the way it is supposed to. Living in this house has definitely made me think of the importance of design in things like this, and has made me realize even more how much the right brain and left brain have to interact to make something work. To design this house, the designer's right brain would have had to taken over to be able to figure out the best way to arrange all the rooms in the most creative and logical way, while the designer's left brain had to show dominance in measuring walls and making sure that beds, desks, and dressers were able to fit where they are supposed to.

A second product that I have noticed that has been poorly designed are the standard headphones that come with iPods. Their sound quality, as well as their physical design seem far from ideal. The part of the headphone itself that fits inside your ear is poorly designed in that, at least for me, does not ever actually fit in the ear the way it is supposed to. They are constantly falling out and having to be replaced, which is annoying if you are trying to do any other activity at the same time. Another aspect is the sound quality. The sound quality of these generic Apple headphones seems worse than other headphones that you might buy separately at the store. Another thing about these headphones that makes them seem poorly designed is that they are so easily tangled. This might seem like a trivial aspect, but the size, weight, and design of the chord makes it easy for them to tangle themselves and become tied in knots. This really is no serious technical mistake, but can become quite frustrating for some users.

One of the well-designed products I have noticed is the new Deer Park water bottle. I buy Deer Park water all the time because I enjoy the way it tastes, and they have been working recently on trying to make a more efficient bottle. The most obvious physical aspect that you can notice that they have changed is the shape of the bottle. The bottle curves inward toward the center, making a convenient place to hold while you are drinking from or carrying the bottle. There are also many things about the bottle that have been changed in order to be more "green" or to be better for the environment. First, the label has become smaller in order to use less paper. Secondly, the shape of the bottle allows 30% less plastic to be used in the making of it than in other bottles. This makes the bottle much more flexible in order to crush and recycle when you are done drinking from the bottle. The screw-on cap has become smaller, and is now completely recyclable. So many of these things that have been changed about Deer Park water seem small and perhaps insignificant when you first think of them, but all of the plastic and paper that is being saved by making these bottles recyclable will make a huge difference in the environment. Plus, this bottle is very asthetically pleasing and easier to handle and work with, which should make any customer happy. The design of this bottle definitely shows the combined efforts of the right and left brain.

A second very well designed product in my everyday life is my camera. I got a Nikon D80 last Christmas and absolutely love it. Nikon is one of the leading camera companies and has proven to have great quality over and over through the years with their production of many different SLR (Single Lens Reflection) cameras. The ad on Nikon's website claims: "Nikon Digital SLRs combine capability with ease of use to produce incredible digital images. Whether you’re new to digital photography or a seasoned pro looking for the latest in technology, you’ll be able to compare the features, explore the benefits and delve into the details and specs. Turn your ideas into images with a Nikon D-SLR." Capability and ease of use are two of the most important things in any product, especially a camera. Using this camera, I have seen its ability to do so many different creative and useful functions that even an unexperienced photographer can use with ease to make beautiful pictures. The developers and designers of Nikon did an excellent job in combining ease of use with creativity and make this product a great design.
Daniel Pink claims in his book that "Good design, now more accessible and affordable than ever, also offers us a chance to bring pleaseure, meaning, and beauty to our lives. But most imoprtant, cultivating a design sensibility can make our small planet a better place for us all" (86). All of these products, good and bad in their design, help to show the importance of design in everything in our lives and how much of a difference design can make in our perception and use of objects all around us.